(LONDON) — Members of Britain’s royal family gathered Tuesday to celebrate the life of Prince Philip, who died at age 99 almost one year ago.
Queen Elizabeth led the royal family at the service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey for Philip, her husband of over 70 years.
The 95-year-old queen has battled health conditions over the past several months — including COVID-19 and a brief hospitalization for what Buckingham Palace said was “preliminary investigations” — so her attendance was all the more noteworthy.
The queen entered Westminster Abbey using a walking stick and holding on to the arm of her son, Prince Andrew, who last month agreed to settle a sexual assault lawsuit. The last time Andrew appeared in a public capacity with the royal family was last April, when the family gathered in London for Prince Philip’s funeral.
Joining the queen to celebrate Philip, in addition to Andrew, are the couple’s three other children — Princes Charles and Edward and Princess Anne — and many of their grandchildren, including Prince William and his wife, Duchess Kate.
Several of the queen and Philip’s great-grandchildren, including William and Kate’s two oldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, also attended the service.
Notably absent from the service was Prince Harry, who stepped down from his senior royal role in 2020 and now lives in California with his wife, Meghan, and their two children. A spokesperson for Harry, the duke of Sussex, confirmed earlier this month he would not attend.
Harry, who did attend his grandfather’s funeral last April, has expressed concern about his safety in the United Kingdom. Earlier this year, he filed a legal challenge asking that the U.K. government allow him to pay for his own police protection while in the U.K.
The service of Thanksgiving that Harry missed was a much larger affair than Prince Philip’s funeral, which was held at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor and had to be modified due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The queen was “actively involved” in planning the Thanksgiving service for her husband, “with many elements reflecting Her Majesty’s wishes,” according to Buckingham Palace.
The service of Thanksgiving, led by the dean of Westminster, was designed to “pay tribute to The Duke of Edinburgh’s contribution to public life and steadfast support for the over 700 charitable organizations with which His Royal Highness was associated throughout his life,” according to the palace.
Philip, the duke of Edinburgh, was known as one of the hardest-working members of the royal family during his tenure alongside the country’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth.
When he retired in 2017, at the age of 96, Philip had completed 22,219 solo engagements since 1952, gave 5,496 speeches in his travels to more than 76 countries, authored 14 books, served as patron to 785 organizations and made 637 solo overseas visits, Buckingham Palace said at the time.
Tuesday’s service also put a spotlight on a program beloved by Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, which he launched in the 1950s to encourage “young people to serve their communities” and “experience adventure,” according to the royal family’s website.
The only non-member of the clergy to speak at the service was Doyin Sonibare, a recipient of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, according to the palace.
In addition to Philip’s family members, Tuesday’s service was also attended by royals from around the world, including Spain, Sweden, Bahrain Romania, Serbia, Norway and Greece, according to Buckingham Palace.
Philip was born in Greece, in 1921, as the only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg. His family was exiled from Greece when he was a baby, and he spent some of his childhood in France.
He was known as Prince Philip of Greece until he became a British subject in 1947 and dropped his titles, becoming Philip Mountbatten.
Upon his marriage to Elizabeth in 1947, he became the duke of Edinburgh.
One decade later, in 1957, the queen made Philip a “Prince of the United Kingdom.”
(NEW YORK) — Another COVID-19 vaccine booster shot may be on the horizon for Americans, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to greenlight a fourth dose for those aged 50 and older as soon as Tuesday.
It comes after Pfizer-BioNTech requested the FDA authorize a fourth dose for Americans aged 65 and older earlier this month and Moderna asked the same, but for those aged 18 and older.
Several other countries have already begun administering a second booster, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends immunocompromised Americans receive a fourth dose.
Two officials familiar with the matter told ABC News the fourth shots will likely be only offered and not formally recommended.
Experts suggest U.S. health officials want another booster authorized for the rest of the population before the next potential COVID-19 wave.
“This is an attempt to be sort of ahead of what might happen in the future,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “We will likely have another surge, whether sooner or later we don’t quite know, but there is a recognition that, over time, immunity wanes.”
He added, “And booster protection is at least helpful for those older and with underlying conditions.”
What is the data behind recommending a fourth dose?
Several countries, including Israel, Chile and Sweden, have begun offering fourth COVID-19 doses to older adults and other at-risk groups.
However, very few studies have been released exploring the benefits of a fourth dose. All are from Israel.
One study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at 274 health care workers who received a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine four months after their first shot.
The team found a fourth shot boosted antibody levels comparable to those seen after a third dose but did not boost protection against infection.
There were no hospitalizations in either the single-boosted group or double-boosted group.
Another study, which was published Thursday and has not yet been peer-reviewed, looked at more than 563,000 patients between 60 and 100 years old.
Over the study period, about 58% of the group received a second booster dose.
They found that participants who received a second booster dose were less likely to die within 40 days of vaccination, after adjusting for baseline health status and other factors.
“The second study was the one that made everyone pay attention … that sort of changed the discussion [about recommending a fourth dose], I think,” Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told ABC News. “But if you look at a percentage, that’s kind of still very low. So basically, getting a booster in that population results in low mortality just overall.”
Brownstein said the data is limited and should be interpreted with caution, but added that Israel has been a harbinger of what’s to come in the U.S.
“Israel has already been a reasonably good indicator of what we might see in the U.S., both the impact of COVID and the efficacy of vaccines,” he said. “I think that provides some support with those who want to get that additional shot.”
Should I get a fourth dose if I’m above age 50?
Although there have not been specific studies looking at the risk of COVID-19 infection or complications in those aged 50 and older who have been doubled boosted compared to those aged 49 and younger, other studies have shown that overall protection declines in older populations.
“It might seem arbitrary, but data suggests that after age 50, your ability to fight infection decreases,” Brownstein said. “The number of underlying chronic conditions increases with age, too.”
But experts said there is no current evidence to suggest that young, healthy Americans need a fourth vaccine dose.
Chin-Hong pointed to recent CDC data, which, as of Jan. 29, showed the rate of COVID deaths among those aged 18 to 49 was 0.8 per 100,000 for the unvaccinated, 0.13 for those fully vaccinated and 0.10 for those vaccinated and boosted.
“The benefit of just being vaccinated is really the discussion rather than how many boosters you got,” he said.
What if I’ve had omicron recently?
Chin-Hong said he doesn’t think boosted Americans who were infected with omicron during the most recent wave need to get a fourth shot.
He added that a COVID-19 infection will likely have boosted antibody levels high enough that a fourth shot won’t add much protection.
“For these people, when you get an infection, it’s almost like getting a shot itself,” he said. “You can consider it as your own booster shot and that hybrid immunity will generally be thought of as being very powerful.”
Chin-Hong added, “You can run out and get the shot any time if you’re eligible but, in terms of biological need, it’s probably less important, particularly if you’ve gotten a recent breakthrough infection.”
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time last week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 29, 3:22 am
Talks between Russia, Ukraine begin in Turkey
The latest round of in-person peace negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations kicked off in Istanbul on Tuesday morning, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in attendance.
Erdogan addressed both sides with a brief speech before the talks began.
“Establishing a cease-fire and peace as soon as possible will be to everyone’s benefit. We think that we’ve entered a period where we need to achieve concrete results from negotiations,” Erdogan said. “As members of the delegations, you’ve taken on a historic responsibility. The whole world is awaiting the good news that will come from you.”
Footage showing the start of the meeting was broadcast by Russian state-backed television channel RT.
Tuesday’s negotiations are taking place in Dolmabahce Palace in the Besiktas district of Turkey’s capital, according to Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu Agency. It’s the first face-to-face talks to take place between Russia and Ukraine in more than two weeks.
(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack recommended on Monday that the full chamber hold senior Trump White House officials in contempt of Congress for their refusal to comply with congressional subpoenas for records and testimony related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The panel released a 34-page report on Sunday laying out congressional investigators’ interest in Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, and how both Trump loyalists rebuffed requests for their cooperation, ahead of Monday night’s vote on whether to refer the matter to the House.
Both men “stonewalled” the committee, Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Monday.
“They’re not fooling anybody. They are obligated to comply with our investigation. They have refused to do so. And that’s a crime,” he said.
A successful House vote would send the referrals to the Justice Department, which would decide whether to pursue criminal charges. Each contempt charge could carry up to a $100,000 fine and up to one year in jail.
Navarro, who officially served as a trade adviser to then-President Donald Trump in the White House’s West Wing, produced a report alleging that the presidential election was stolen from Trump — which he said Trump distributed to all Republican members of Congress prior to Jan. 6.
The committee said it had evidence that Navarro’s work was distributed by then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and attorney John Eastman, who also worked on Trump’s effort to overturn the election results.
The committee wrote in its report that Navarro also worked closely with Trump ally Steve Bannon to delay Congress’ certification of the election and to overturn the results, a plan Navarro dubbed the “Green Bay Sweep” in his book, “In Trump Time.” According to the committee, Navarro spoke to Bannon on Jan. 6, encouraged Trump associates to contact Trump ally Roger Stone to discuss Jan. 6 plans, and encouraged hundreds of state legislators to “take action” ahead of the certification of the election results.
The Justice Department has indicted Bannon for refusing to comply with the committee’s subpoena. The trial for Bannon, who has pleaded not guilty, could begin this summer.
The DOJ has not taken action on a referral from the House over Meadows’ refusal to fully cooperate with the committee’s subpoena.
Navarro has repeatedly rebuffed the committee and has refused to comply with its subpoena, arguing that Trump invoked executive privilege over their communications, even though he detailed parts of his work in his book — and even though President Joe Biden, as the current commander-in-chief, declined to invoke privilege over his testimony.
“My position remains this is not my Executive Privilege to waive and the Committee should negotiate this matter with President Trump.” Navarro said in a statement Sunday, in response to the committee’s report. “If he waives the privilege, I will be happy to comply; but I see no effort by the Committee to clarify this matter with President Trump, which is bad faith and bad law.”
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., on Monday called Navarro a “key witness” who had “written a book boasting about his role in planning and coordinating the activity of Jan. 6, and yet he does not have the courage to testify here.”
The Supreme Court previously rejected Trump’s claims of privilege and refused to block the committee from some Trump White House records. The panel has also argued that Navarro’s election-related work was not done in his capacity as a government official and would not be covered by executive privilege.
“We want to talk to Mr. Scavino and Mr. Navarro about their roles in an attempt to overturn an election. The American people didn’t pay their salaries to do that,” Thompson said, dismissing their claims of privilege.
The committee wrote in its report that Scavino, a deputy chief of staff and longtime Trump aide, was “uniquely positioned to illuminate” Trump’s knowledge and actions leading up to Jan. 6.
Scavino also played a central part in amplifying Trump’s unfounded claims of widespread election fraud in his role managing the then-president’s Twitter and other social media accounts.
“President Trump, working with Mr. Scavino, successfully spread distrust for our courts — which had repeatedly found no basis to overturn the election. And Trump’s stolen election campaign succeeded in provoking the violence on Jan. 6. On this point, there is no doubt — the Committee has videos, interviews, and sworn statements from the violent rioters demonstrating these facts,” Cheney said.
According to the committee’s report, the panel has obtained evidence that Scavino spoke to Trump “several times” on Jan. 6 and was with him at the White House as he faced public and private calls to help stop the violence at the Capitol.
Pointing to his online presence and links to Trump’s following on social media, the committee said it had “reason to believe” that Scavino “may have had advance warning of the possibility of violence on Jan. 6,” given online activity on pro-Trump forums that suggested potential violence in Washington.
“Whether and when the President and other senior officials knew of impending violence is highly relevant to the Select Committee’s investigation and consideration of legislative recommendations,” the committee wrote.
The panel issued three subpoenas to Scavino — including one delivered by U.S. Marshals to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida — and agreed to delay his deposition and document production deadline half a dozen times last year. Yet the committee said in its report that Scavino had “not produced a single document, nor has he appeared for testimony.”
Scavino also sued Verizon in January to stop the carrier from turning over his cell phone records to the committee.
Although Scavino, Navarro, and several other Trump allies have refused to cooperate with the probe, investigators have questioned more than 750 witnesses, including senior Trump White House and administration officials, as the committee works to wrap up the first phase of its inquiry ahead of public hearings and the issuance of a final report later this year.
“We’re now in a critical phase of our investigation,” Cheney said.
An attorney representing Scavino did not respond to requests for comment from ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time last week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 28, 6:44 pm
Russian troops ‘pushed away from Kyiv’: Zelenskyy
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during his evening address Monday that Irpin was liberated and Russian forces have been “pushed away from Kyiv.”
“The occupiers are pushed away from Irpin. Pushed away from Kyiv,” he said.
However, he said Russian troops still control the north of Kyiv.
“They are trying to restore the destroyed units. The level of their losses, even at 90%, is not an argument for them to stop. Hundreds and hundreds of units of burned and abandoned enemy equipment do not convince them that this will happen to everyone,” he said.
Zelenskyy also said the situation in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv regions, along with Donbas and southern Ukraine, remains tense.
“This is a ruthless war against our nation, against our people, against our children.
As of today, 143 children are known to have died,” Zelenskyy said Monday.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Mar 28, 4:00 pm
Biden says he ‘was expressing moral outrage’ with comment that Putin ‘cannot remain in power’
President Joe Biden told reporters Monday that when he said in Poland this weekend that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power,” he “was expressing moral outrage that I feel,” adding, “I make no apologies for it.”
Biden did not dispute when a questioner noted the line had not been in his prepared remarks.
“The last part of the speech was talking to the Russian people, telling them what we thought. I was communicating this to not only the Russian people but the whole world. This is — this is just stating a simple fact that this kind of behavior is totally unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. And the way to deal with it is to strengthen and put — keep NATO completely united and help Ukraine where we can,” Biden said.
“I want to make it clear, I wasn’t then, nor am I now, articulating a policy change,” Biden said.
“The last thing I want to do is engage in a land war or a nuclear war with Russia,” he said. “That’s not part of it. I was expressing my outrage at the behavior of this man.”
Biden said that if Putin “continues on this course that he’s on, he is going to become a pariah worldwide.”
He said he didn’t think his comments complicated diplomatic efforts, but that it is Putin’s actions that are complicating the situation.
“He shouldn’t remain in power. Just like, you know, bad people shouldn’t continue to do bad things. But it doesn’t mean we have a fundamental policy to do anything to take Putin down in any way,” Biden said.
The president said “it’s ridiculous” to think his remark was a statement of U.S. policy.
“People like this shouldn’t be ruling countries, but they do. The fact they do doesn’t mean I can’t express my outrage about it,” he said.
Biden told ABC News that he’s confident Putin won’t view his remarks as an excuse for escalation.
“The idea that he is going to do something outrageous because I called him for what he was and what he’s doing, I think is just not rational,” Biden said.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Mar 28, 1:50 pm
UN Secretary-General appeals for a humanitarian ceasefire
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday appealed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine.
“Since the beginning of the Russian invasion one months ago, the war has led to the senseless loss of thousands of lives, the displacement of 10 million people, mainly women and children, the systematic destruction of essential infrastructure and skyrocketing food and energy prices worldwide. This must stop,” Guterres said.
U.N. humanitarian agencies and partners in the last month have reached nearly 900,000 people, mainly in eastern Ukraine, providing food, shelter, blankets, medicine, bottled water and hygiene supplies, he said.
Mar 28, 1:18 pm
US sending six Navy electronic warfare aircraft to Germany
The Pentagon said it’s sending six U.S. Navy EA-18 “Growlers” (Navy fighter aircraft equipped with electronic warfare jamming equipment) and 240 personnel to Germany to boost NATO’s defenses because of the aircraft’s electronic warfare jamming capability.
“They are not being deployed to be used against Russian forces in Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby stressed. “They are being deployed completely in keeping with our efforts to bolster NATO’s deterrence and defense capabilities along that Eastern flank. They are not being sent because of some sort of acute threat that was perceived or some specific incident that happened.”
“This is in order to bolster readiness, enhance NATO’s collective defense posture and further increase air integration capabilities with our Allied and partner nations,” Kirby said.
Mar 28, 12:50 pm
Russians prioritizing Donbas, Ukrainians ‘slugging it out’ in Mariupol: US official
The Russians appear to be prioritizing the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters on Monday.
“We’re not exactly sure what’s behind this reprioritization,” the official said.
This could be Russia refocusing its strategic goals or trying to gain leverage for talks, the official said.
Meanwhile, in the hard-hit city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, “the Ukrainians are slugging it out” and “keeping the Russians at bay,” the official said.
In Kyiv, the situation is static, the official said. Russian troops have stopped making advances toward the capital city, though they continue using their long-range missile fires, the official said.
“We continue to see Ukrainians defend the city and try to push Russians back,” the official said.
Mar 28, 11:41 am
Russia says radiation levels remain stable despite fires in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Radiation levels remain stable in Russia despite fires in the occupied Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Russian public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said Monday.
Rospotrebnadzor said it was continuing to monitor the situation.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is a 1,000-square-mile restricted area of deserted, contaminated land around the shuttered Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986. Russian forces seized the defunct plant and surrounding exclusion zone just hours after launching an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management has warned that the radiation hazard is growing due to the blazes in the area, which it said have the potential to spread. The fires observed at more than 30 spots in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone over the past two weeks have exceeded 8,700 hectares in total, according to the agency.
However, Vadym Denysenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on Monday that the situation was currently “more or less stable.”
Mar 28, 11:32 am
Kremlin expresses concern over Biden’s remark in Poland
Russia is concerned by U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent remark seemingly regarding the need for a change of administration in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.
In an address on Saturday from Poland’s capital, Warsaw, Biden made a comment that appeared to be directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.
“For god’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said.
After the speech, the White House released a statement clarifying that Biden wasn’t calling for a regime change.
“The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” a White House official said.
When asked by reporters on Monday about Biden’s remark, Peskov replied: “Indeed, this statement makes us worry.”
“We will continue to closely monitor statements made by the U.S. president,” he added. “We are thoroughly recording them and will be continuing to do so.”
Mar 28, 11:20 am
Cost of damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure estimated at $63 billion
The cost of direct damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure amid Russia’s ongoing invasion has already reached almost an estimated $63 billion, according to an analysis by the Kyiv School of Economics.
As of March 24, at least 4,431 residential buildings, 92 factories and warehouses, 378 institutions of secondary and higher education, 138 health care institutions, 12 airports, seven thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants have been damaged, destroyed or seized in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s overall economic losses due to the war range from $543 billion to $600 billion, the Kyiv School of Economics said.
Mar 28, 11:15 am
Russia dubs German broadcaster DW a ‘foreign agent’
The Russian Ministry of Justice on Monday added German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) to a list of media organizations it has labeled as “foreign agents.”
The justice ministry said in a statement that it made the decision “based on the documents received from the authorized state authorities,” without providing further details. The designation requires media outlets to publish a disclaimer on all its publications.
“This latest, arbitrary decision by the Russian authorities was unfortunately to be expected,” DW director Peter Limbourg said in a statement. “It is a further attack on press freedom and a fresh attempt to cut the Russian population off from free, independent media.”
“It started with the forced closure of our studio in Moscow at the beginning of February, then our website in all languages was blocked in Russia. There then followed the gradual restriction of social media services and now DW has been labeled a ‘foreign agent,'” he added. “This will not stop us from continuing to provide comprehensive and independent coverage of Russia and the region from our new studio in Latvia and from Germany. We will have to put a lot more effort into censorship circumvention tools in the future. This includes VPN clients like Psiphon or the Tor browser, which we already use.”
Mar 28, 11:00 am
Russia’s Nobel-winning Novaya Gazeta newspaper suspends publication
Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose editor was a co-winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, announced Monday that it is suspending publication until the war ends in neighboring Ukraine.
Novaya Gazeta was the last remaining established independent media outlet still operating in Russia and trying to cover the invasion of Ukraine, despite strict censorship. Its decision to halt operations is another watershed moment in the silencing of free media across Russia.
The Moscow-based paper, famous for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime, said it made the decision after receiving a second warning from Russia’s state communications and media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, for allegedly violating the country’s repressive “foreign agent” law. Another alleged violation could allow a court to shut Novaya Gazeta down completely.
Novaya Gazeta is best-known by Western countries for the fact that six of its journalists have been murdered since 2000, including most famously Anna Politkovskaya. Last October, the paper’s editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, was jointly awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Rosa, one of the Philippines’ most prominent journalists, for “their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
Before Russian forces attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24, there was still a very small number of popular, influential media outlets able to operate in Russia — albeit under permanent pressure from the government. But since the war began, austerities have moved to crush all of them, and dozens — likely hundreds — of independent journalists have fled abroad. Most are now publishing articles from outside the country. Novaya Gazeta is arguably the most symbolic closure. The paper was co-founded in 1993 by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who still sits on its board.
Novaya Gazeta said in a statement Monday that it is suspending publication until the end of Russia’s so-called “special military operation in Ukraine,” the term the Russian government is using instead of war or invasion. Russia has banned media from using those words to describe the situation. But Novaya Gazeta had been getting around that ban with some symbolic gestures, including blank pages, and replacing the word “war” in its articles with phrases like “word forbidden by Russian government.”
Mar 28, 9:28 am
Ukrainian-American pastor abducted in Ukraine has been freed
Dmitry Bodyu, a Ukrainian-American pastor who was allegedly abducted in Ukraine earlier this month, has been freed, local church officials told ABC News on Monday.
It was unclear where he was released or in what condition.
Bodyu, 50, was taken by a group of about eight to 10 Russian soldiers from his home in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Melitopol on March 19, his family told NBC News. He is a pastor of Word of Life Church in Melitopol.
-ABC News’ Dragana Jovanovic
Mar 28, 8:05 am
At least 1,119 civilians killed, 1,790 injured in Ukraine: OHCHR
At least 1,119 civilians have been killed and 1,790 others have been injured in Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
At least 99 children were among the dead, according to the OHCHR, which noted that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine had reported at least 139 children were killed as of Sunday.
“Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes,” the agency said in a statement Sunday.
The agency noted that the actual number of casualties are believed to be “considerably higher” because the receipt of information from some areas with intense hostilities, like the southeastern port city of Mariupol, have been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.
Other areas where the number of casualties are still being corroborated include Volnovakha in the Donetsk Oblast, Izium in the Kharkiv Oblast, Popasna and Rubizhne in the Luhansk Oblast, and Trostianets in the Sumy Oblast, where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties, according to the OHCHR. Casualty numbers from these regions are not included.
From 24 Feb—26 March, we recorded 2,909 civilian casualties in context of Russia’s armed attack against #Ukraine: 1,119 killed, incl 99 children; 1,790 injured, incl 126 children, mostly caused by shelling & airstrikes. Actual toll is much higher. Update https://t.co/LlMm7iUqsrpic.twitter.com/OcyhxSUrj3
— UNHumanRightsUkraine (@UNHumanRightsUA) March 27, 2022
Mar 28, 7:33 am
Nightly curfew in Kyiv shifts back, shortens an hour
The nightly citywide curfew in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, has been shifted back and shortened by an hour.
Starting Monday night, the curfew will be from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time.
There has been a curfew in Kyiv every day since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24. The previous time frame was from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. local time.
-ABC News’ Julia Drozd and Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 7:00 am
Russian forces attempt to seize key highways, settlements
Russian forces on Monday morning were attempting to breach defenses from the northwest and east of Ukraine to seize key highways and settlements, which are held by Ukrainian troops, according to Ukrainian officials.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said that hypersonic missiles for the Russian military’s Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile system were being delivered to the Belarusian town of Kalinkovichi. Two of the latest strikes to hit Lutsk, a city in northwestern Ukraine, were launched from neighboring Belarus, according to Ukrainian officials.
Mar 28, 6:20 am
New round of talks could start Monday in Turkey
Ukraine and Russia have both said that a new round of peace negotiations with be held in person in Turkey at the start of this week, but it remains unclear whether the talks begin Monday or Tuesday.
One of the Ukrainian negotiators, David Arakhamia, has said the talks would be held Monday through Wednesday.
Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, has said the talks would start Tuesday.
Arakhamia said the decision to hold the negotiations in person was reached during the latest round of talks via video link, which are taking place everyday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Russian journalists that his country is ready to compromise on Moscow’s demand for neutral status, but wants meaningful security guarantees from Western countries. He said any peace deal is only possible if Russia withdraws all of its troops to areas occupied before the war began.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 6:16 am
Ukraine intel chief says Russia plans a ‘Korean scenario’
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be seeking to split Ukraine in two after failing to seize the capital, Kyiv, according to the head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency.
Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said in a statement Sunday that Putin may now be pursuing a “Korean scenario” that would see Russian forces try to occupy the east and south of Ukraine since they no longer have the strength to “swallow the whole state.”
“After the failures near Kyiv and the impossibility to overthrow the central government in Ukraine, Putin is already changing his main direction of operations — to the south and east,” Budanov said. “There are grounds to suggest that he is considering the Korean scenario for Ukraine. That is to attempt to lay down a new line of contact between the non-occupied and occupied regions of our country. In fact, it’s an attempt to create in Ukraine a North and South Korea. Indeed, he definitely doesn’t have the strength to swallow the whole state.”
Budanov said he believes Putin still wants to open a land corridor between the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula and the other Russian-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine, which would mean the occupation of besieged Mariupol, a strategic port city in the southeast that has been under heavy Russian bombardment. But he said Ukraine’s continued counterattacks as well as resistance by local people in the occupied areas were disrupting Putin’s plans.
Budanov also predicted the start of guerrilla warfare that would make it impossible for Russia to hold territory.
“Soon the season of the total Ukrainian partisan safari will start,” he said. “Then for the Russians will remain only one relevant scenario — how to survive.”
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 28, 5:07 am
Ukraine says no humanitarian corridors for Monday
Ukraine’s government announced for the first time in nearly three weeks that no humanitarian corridors for evacuating civilians will be open on Monday due to concerns about possible “provocations” from Russian forces.
“Our intelligence has informed us of possible provocations from the side of the occupiers on the routes of the humanitarian corridors,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on her official Telegram channel. “And so in interest of citizens’ safety today we are not opening humanitarian corridors.”
The Ukrainian government has been evacuating hundreds of thousands of civilians from cities and towns in the north, east and south of the country through established corridors. Officials have previously accused Russian forces of shelling some of the evacuation routes, despite agreeing to cease-fires.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 27, 5:17 pm
Zelenskyy outlines goals for peace agreement to Russian journalists
In his first interview with Russian journalists since his country was invaded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described some of Ukraine’s positions for ending the war.
During an interview with popular Russian independent news sites TV Rain and Meduza, Zelenskyy said any peace deal is only possible if Russia withdraws its troops to the territory occupied before the start of the invasion, meaning Crimea and the separatist-held areas of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said his main goals are “to maximally reduce the number of casualties (and) to shorten the length of this war.”
“The withdrawal of Russia to compromise territories — but that is everything (that) was before 24 February, before the assault. Let them return there,” Zelenskyy said. “I understand that to force Russia to completely liberate territory is impossible. That will lead to a third world war. I totally understand all that. And I say it: compromise. Return to where all this started and there we will try to resolve the question of Donbas, the difficult question of Donbas.”
Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine is ready to discuss taking a position of “neutrality” and “non-nuclear status” with Russia, but wants security guarantees for his country in return.
He again said he would put the issue to a referendum in Ukraine and that any treaty would need to be ratified by “guarantor countries” — which other officials have suggested must include the United States.
Zelenskyy reiterated that no guarantor countries, such as the United Kingdom and Turkey, will sign any agreement while Russian troops remain on Ukrainian soil.
(WASHINGTON) — The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman Dick Durbin, is calling on Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases following reports that Thomas’ wife, Ginni Thomas, had exchanged texts with then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, urging him to attempt to overthrow the 2020 election results.
Durbin said Monday that the development “raises a serious question about conflict of interest for Justice Thomas.”
“To think that he would consider a case where his wife is frequently contacting the chief of staff for the president and giving advice on matters that are going to be ultimately litigated by the court,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill. “For the good of the court, I think he should recuse himself from those cases.”
Sources familiar with the text messages, which were obtained by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, confirmed their authenticity to ABC News. The content of the messages was first reported by The Washington Post and CBS News.
“Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!” Thomas wrote to Meadows on Nov. 10 after the election was officially called for Joe Biden. “You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”
“Evil always looks like the victor until the King of Kings triumphs,” Meadows wrote. “Do not grow weary in well doing. The fight continues. I have staked my career on it. Well at least my time in DC on it.”
The Supreme Court then declined to block the Jan. 6 committee from obtaining Trump White House records in January over the objection of only one justice: Clarence Thomas.
Pressed as to whether the Senate Judiciary intends to take action on or investigate the matter, Durbin said the committee would have those discussions once they deal with the pending nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court.
“There’s plenty of time and plenty of reason for us to debate this in the future,” Durbin said. “But for the time being. I want to make sure this vacancy is filled with Judge Jackson.”
Durbin added there are “a lot of things for which we will discuss” after Jackson’s confirmation vote, but that he is “troubled to say the least by the disclosures about what Justice Thomas’s wife has been doing.”
President Biden, meanwhile, is attempting to stay out of the debate over whether Thomas should recuse himself, saying Monday at a White House event unveiling his budget that he would “leave that to two entities.”
“One, the January 6th committee and two the Justice Department. That’s their judgment, not mine to make,” Biden said.
The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack is also debating whether or not to ask Ginni Thomas for her voluntary cooperation and is meeting on Monday evening to discuss whether to hold former Trump aides Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress for their refusal to comply with subpoenas.
Sources say there are others on the panel who believe the committee should take the more aggressive step of attempting to compel her testimony via subpoena.
Pressed further on Monday to take his own position, the president was unwavering.
“I told you those things get into legal issues. That, in fact, I told you I would not tell the Justice Department what position to take or not take. And I’m not going to instruct the Congress either,” he said to reporters.
The messages — more than two dozen between Thomas and Meadows in November of 2020, and one from Jan. 10 — were among the thousands of pages of text messages, emails and documents Meadows voluntarily turned over to the committee last year, before he reversed course and decided not to cooperate with the inquiry.
Thomas did not respond to an earlier request for comment from ABC News. A spokesman for the committee declined to comment on the messages or their contents.
“There were some eyebrows raised when Justice Thomas was that lone vote,” said Kate Shaw, ABC News Supreme Court analyst and Cardozo Law professor. “But he did not explain himself, so we don’t actually know why he wished to take up the case.”
There are no explicit ethics guidelines that govern the activities of a justice’s spouse, experts say, but there are rules about justices avoiding conflicts of interest. Federal law requires that federal judges recuse themselves from cases whenever their “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Benjamin Siegel, Devin Dwyer, Justin Gomez and Libby Cathey contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Capitol finally reopened its doors Monday after being closed for nearly two years due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
It will be a limited reopening that will involve member-led and staff-led tours of up to 15 people as well as school groups that have registered in advance, according to a statement from Maj. Gen. William Walker, the House sergeant-at-arms, and Dr. Brian Monahan, the Capitol’s attending physician.
Attestation of a daily negative health screening form is “recommended” for all visitors, as COVID-19 restrictions in Washington, D.C., and across the country are lifted.
“We appreciate your continued patience and cooperation as we work together to resume public tours of the Capitol for the American people in a way that protects the health and safety of visitors and institutional staff alike,” Walker and Monahan wrote in the statement.
Both officials said the choice to reestablish limited tours was coordinated with congressional leaders, the U.S. Capitol Police and the board that oversees that force, Capitol Visitor Services and the attending physician.
Reservations are required and must be made through a senator or representative’s office. The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center website still states that it is not accepting tour reservations.
This is the first phase of the planned reopening of the Capitol to visitors. The second phase is expected to commence at the end of May.
(WASHINGTON) — The committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is expected to ask the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, for her cooperation following revelations of messages obtained by congressional investigators in which she repeatedly urged then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to sources familiar with committee members’ deliberations.
While the committee was debating asking Thomas for her voluntary cooperation, there are others on the panel who believe the committee should take the more aggressive step of attempting to compel her testimony via subpoena, the sources say.
“Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!” Thomas wrote to Meadows on Nov. 10 after the election had been officially called for Joe Biden. “You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”
Meadows, who did not respond to all of Thomas’ missives, texted in late November that Trump’s challenge of the election results was “a fight of good versus evil.”
The text messages were among the thousands of pages of text messages, emails and documents Meadows voluntarily turned over to the committee last year before he reversed course and decided not to cooperate with the inquiry. Sources familiar with the messages confirmed their authenticity to ABC News.
“Evil always looks like the victor until the King of Kings triumphs,” Meadows wrote in one text. “Do not grow weary in well doing. The fight continues. I have staked my career on it. Well at least my time in DC on it.”
“Thank you!! Needed that! This plus a conversation with my best friend just now … I will try to keep holding on. America is worth it,” Thomas replied.
(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon has been providing daily updates on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s efforts to resist.
Here are highlights of what a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Friday on Day 33:
Ukraine retakes town south of Sumy
The U.S. assesses that Ukrainian forces retook the town of Trostyanets, south of Sumy, in northeast Ukraine, from Russian forces.
“They continue to make progress in that regard,” said the official, who could not confirm reports of other areas having been retaken by the Ukrainians as was reported by Ukraine this weekend.
The official added that Russian forces remain around in a defensive posture, “and the Ukrainians are continuing to try to take back ground,” which they’ve seen in the south and north.
Last Friday, the official said Russian troops north of Kyiv had moved into defensive positions around the city and were putting a priority on operations in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
The official said Monday that Russian troops around Kyiv have stopped making advances towards the city, though they continue using long-range fires. Russian troops remain 15-20 miles north/northwest of the city and about 35 miles east. Russia has now fired more than 1,370 missiles into Ukraine.
“Static situation on the ground there, except for the fact that we continue to see Ukrainians defend the city and try to to push Russians back as well,” said the official.
The southern strategic city of Kherson remains “contested territory,” said the official. On Friday, the official said Kherson, which was seized by Russia early in the fighting, was no longer under full control of Russian forces.
Russia prioritizing the Donbas, but US not sure why
The official said Russian forces appear to have prioritized operations in eastern Ukraine. The official described Russian forces moving southeast from Izyum as making “incremental progress” towards Donbas.
“We’re not exactly sure what’s behind this reprioritization. All I can tell you is what we’re seeing,” said the official.
The U.S. believes it could be to attempt to cut off Ukrainian troops in the east from the rest of the country, to gain leverage for future peace talks or to refocus their strategic goals.
Heavy fighting and shelling continues in Mariupol
“The Ukrainians are slugging it out in Mariupol and they are keeping the Russians at bay there so far,” said the official.
Russian troops entered the southern port city after pounding with artillery and long-range missiles, apparently destroying entire sections of the city. “We continue to see Mariupol getting slammed by long-range fires,” the official said.
“We are certainly aware of reports that inside Mariupol the Ukrainians are not only fighting very, very hard, but that they are experiencing their own challenges because you’re surrounded,” the official added. “It is under incredible pressure by the Russians, but the Ukrainians continue to defend it.”
US troop extensions in eastern Europe?
A major decision of last week’s NATO leaders summit in Brussels was that the alliance would establish a long-term presence in eastern Europe as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This includes an additional 6,000 American ground forces moved into eastern Europe to reassure NATO countries that border Russia ahead of that invasion.
Now, there are questions about if they will remain there longer than what has been described by the Pentagon as a temporary deployment.
The official noted that when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered additional troops to Europe in recent months, “We made it clear at the time that they will be there for as long as we believe they were necessary to be there, and the secretary continues to believe that they’re necessary.”
The official characterized them as temporary deployments and said Austin is constantly discussing U.S. troop posture with Gen. Tod Wolters, the commander of U.S. European Command and the top commander of NATO forces, and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“Those troops are still there and the secretary assesses that they need to stay there, and so I have no announcements or changes to that posture except for those six Growlers that we talked about this morning and as we as we can talk about, we certainly will,” said the official.
On Monday, the Pentagon announced that six U.S. Navy EA-18 Growler aircraft capable of jamming radars with electronic warfare equipment were being deployed to Germany to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank and to deter Russia.
“They are not being deployed to be used against Russian forces in Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby stressed in making the announcement. “They are being deployed completely in keeping with our efforts to bolster NATO’s deterrence and defense capabilities along that Eastern flank. They are not being sent because of some sort of acute threat that was perceived or some specific incident that happened.”
“This is in order to bolster readiness, enhance NATO’s collective defense posture and further increase air integration capabilities with our allied and partner nations,” Kirby said.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden appeared to want to both ways when he fielded a barrage of questions Monday asking him to clarify his remarks that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.”
He stood by his words “expressing moral outrage” but also clarified that the U.S. is not supporting regime change in Russia.
In a rare move for the White House, Biden — who made the apparently unscripted comment in Poland on Saturday — took questions from reporters Monday afternoon at an event unveiling his latest budget proposal, which includes $6.9 billion to help Ukraine fight Russian aggression.
The first question to Biden was: “Do you believe what you said, that Putin can’t remain in power, or do you now regret saying that? Because your government has been trying to walk that back, did your words complicate matters?”
Pres. Biden says he was not “articulating a policy change” when he said Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.”
“Number one, I’m not walking anything back. The fact of the matter is I was expressing the moral outrage I felt toward the way Putin is dealing and the acts of this man just — brutality, half the children in Ukraine. I had just come from being with those families, and so — but I want to make it clear, I wasn’t then nor am I now articulating a policy change. I was expressing the moral outrage that I feel, and I make no apologies for it,” Biden said.
Biden went on to say that he does not think the comment complicates the diplomacy of this moment.
“The fact is that we’re in a situation where it complicates the situation at the moment is the escalatory efforts of Putin to continue to engage in carnage. The kind of behavior that makes the whole world say, ‘My God, what is this man doing?’ That’s what complicates things a great deal and — but I don’t think it complicates it all,” Biden added.
“I was expressing my outrage. He shouldn’t remain in power. Just like, you know, bad people shouldn’t continue to do bad things. But it doesn’t mean we have a fundamental policy to do anything to take Putin down in any way,” Biden said.
Pressed by ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce if he’s confident Putin doesn’t see his words as escalatory, Biden said, “I don’t care what he thinks.”
“Given his behavior, people should understand that he is going to do what he thinks he should do, period. He’s not affected by anybody else including, unfortunately, his own advisers. This is a guy who goes to the beat of his own drummer. And the idea that he is going to do something outrageous because I called him for what he was and what he’s doing, I think is just not rational,” Biden said.
He told Bruce that another meeting with Putin, “depends on what he wants to talk about.”
Asked why he made the comment closing out his four-day alliance-building trip that was not in his prepared remarks, Biden said he was “talking directly to the Russian people.”
Pressed further, Biden repeated he was “expressing the moral outrage I felt toward this man” and “wasn’t articulating a policy change.”
“The last part of the speech was talking to the Russian people, telling them what we thought. I was communicating this to not only the Russian people but the whole world. This is — this is just stating a simple fact that this kind of behavior is totally unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. And the way to deal with it is to strengthen and put — keep NATO completely united and help Ukraine where we can.”
Biden told reporters Sunday evening he was not calling for Putin’s removal from office, after the White House and some Democrats scrambled to explain the president was not endorsing regime change in Russia as a policy goal.
“The president’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” a White House official said after the speech.
“I think the president, the White House made the point last night that, quite simply, President Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday. “As you’ve heard us say repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia or anywhere else, for that matter. In this case, as in any case, it’s up to the people of the country in question. It’s up to the Russian people.”
Putin’s allies, meanwhile, have appeared to take the comment as escalatory rhetoric, and the fallout could undermine diplomatic efforts to end the war.
“That’s not for Biden to decide. The president of Russia is elected by Russians,” said Kremlin spokesperson Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Biden also called Putin a “butcher” over the weekend, prompting some world leaders to distance themselves from the rhetoric, with France’s Emmanuel Macron saying, “I wouldn’t use this type of wording.”
The dustup comes as recent polls have shown growing frustration with Biden’s handling of Ukraine, even while most Americans favor specific steps the president has taken. According to recent ABC News/Ipsos data, 70% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of gas prices, for instance, though even more respondents — 77% — support his proposal to ban Russian oil, even if it means paying more at the pump.
Biden has stepped up his rhetoric in recent weeks as the fighting in Ukraine has worsened. At least twice in the last month, he has called the Russian president a “war criminal,” adding he thinks Putin “will meet the legal definition.” The State Department announced last week Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine but did not specially name Putin.
